


Home away from home

by ToxicPineapple



Series: Rantaro Amami Week 2020 [3]
Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Angst, Banter, Beaches, Day At The Beach, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Humour, Hurt/Comfort, Kaito went to space!! And he came back, M/M, Oops, Paranoid, Popsicles, Post-High School, Post-Hope's Peak Academy, Rantaro is. In a word
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:13:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26628079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToxicPineapple/pseuds/ToxicPineapple
Summary: Kaito huffs, flapping his hands a little. As a result, the popsicle slides clean off the wooden stick, and lands right back in the sand where it was before. Rantaro looks down at it when Kaito does, and for a moment, they both watch the ice melt in the hot sun, staining the sand electric blue. When they make eye contact again, they start laughing, harder than Rantaro was going before. “I think that was the universe telling me my popsicle is a lost cause,” Kaito manages, as he calms down, looking mournfully at the now-popsicle-less stick.“I can buy you another one,” Rantaro offers. “I can get you an exact replica, in fact. The popsicle stand is right over there,” he points off some six yards to his right, grinning. “It’s free popsicle day for the Luminary of the Stars.”Kaito scoffs at the title, averting his gaze.---Rantaro and Kaito spend a day at the beach.---Amami week day three: Home/Ocean
Relationships: Amami Rantaro/Momota Kaito
Series: Rantaro Amami Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1941298
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	Home away from home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jimcloud](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jimcloud/gifts).



> written for amami week day three! the prompt was home/ocean
> 
> i didn't publicise amami week this year because it's a personal writing project i'm doing with a few other friends. here are the prompts for the week, but it is kind of a friend event, just for the record. i'm aware that i'm doing this at the exact same time as amamatsu week and i really wish i had known before i already had two fics finished so i could try and put it at another time FKJDSFKLj but yeah, please support amamatsu week and don't do this challenge with me unless you're one of my friends who was already doing it. <3
> 
> day one: stay/go  
> day two: lost/fault  
> day three: home/ocean  
> day four: trust/family  
> day five: safe/danger  
> day six: gold/green  
> day seven: free space/birthday
> 
> (also hi jim i'm gifting this to you because i used your headcanon about rantaro's ocean things, i love you you boomer)

Kaito’s popsicle makes a little  _ flump  _ noise when it falls into the sand, and Rantaro takes a moment to gauge his boyfriend’s reaction to the tragedy before laughing, holding a hand over his mouth so that Kaito may maintain some  _ semblance  _ of dignity.

“A month later and you still expect there to be no gravity here,” Rantaro giggles, and the look Kaito shoots him in reply is affectionate, if chagrined.

“Listen,” Kaito says. Rantaro listens. Kaito blinks at him. “Yeah, I got nothin’. You’d think I’d be used to the earth-lubber life by now.” He bends down and picks up the popsicle by the stick, wrinkling his nose at all the sand that it’s now covered in. “Think I could rinse this off in the ocean and be okay?”

  
“Salty popsicle?” Rantaro practically chortles. “And can we backtrack for a minute here? Did you just say  _ earth-lubber?” _

“Yeah, y’know,” Kaito gestures, “like land-lubber, but, like, on earth.”

Rantaro giggles. “Couldn’t you just say earthling?”

“But  _ I’m _ an earthling!” Kaito huffs, flapping his hands a little. As a result, the popsicle slides clean off the wooden stick, and lands right back in the sand where it was before. Rantaro looks down at it when Kaito does, and for a moment, they both watch the ice melt in the hot sun, staining the sand electric blue. When they make eye contact again, they start laughing, harder than Rantaro was going before. “I think that was the universe telling me my popsicle is a lost cause,” Kaito manages, as he calms down, looking mournfully at the now-popsicle-less stick.

“I can buy you another one,” Rantaro offers. “I can get you an exact replica, in fact. The popsicle stand is  _ right  _ over there,” he points off some six yards to his right, grinning. “It’s free popsicle day for the Luminary of the Stars.”

Kaito scoffs at the title, averting his gaze. “I’m pretty sure the vendor just watched me release my popsicle in midair like I had an imaginary genie to catch it for me or somethin’. I’ll pass. I don’t think I could show my face over there, star conqueror or not.”

“It’s your loss,” Rantaro shrugs. “If you wanna go set up our towel and stuff over there, then, because I’m very interested in one of those Spongebob ice cream bars…”

“They never look like the picture,” Kaito points out, with a laugh. Rantaro grins, both in response to what Kaito said, and, y’know, his laugh. It’s a brilliant laugh. The kind of laugh that Rantaro likes to hear, and all the time, thank you very much. It’s been so nice having Kaito back the past month. Japan sort of lost what made it a home to Rantaro while he was in space.

“I don’t buy them for their design accuracies, Kaito,” Rantaro scoffs, putting his hands on his hips. “I buy them for the gumballs that come along with them. My lizard brain sees them and is immediately compelled to  _ crunch.” _

“Yeah, well, your lizard brain  _ also  _ tried to get you to eat an egg out of my hair, so,” Kaito scoops up their bags, tucking them over his shoulders. “I’d take its opinion with a grain of salt.”

“It’s the gum or the yolks, Kaito,” Rantaro says, seriously.

Grinning, Kaito leans over to kiss Rantaro on the cheek. His stubble scratches lightly against Rantaro’s jaw. Man needs to shave. Rantaro doesn’t mind the scruffy look, though. Kaito is more than handsome enough to pull it off. “Take the gum, then. I’ll stay in sight,” he adds, more quietly, nuzzling Rantaro’s cheek very briefly before he pulls away.

Rantaro’s heart gives a little squeeze. Kaito is so good to him. It’s strange getting comfortable with being taken care of like this all over again, after he had to get used to being without it for the six months that Kaito was gone. It isn’t a  _ bad  _ kind of strange, or anything, because Rantaro doesn’t think it’s possible to be more in love than he is with this man, but there’s always that underlying fear, that something will go wrong, that Rantaro will mess up, and then Kaito will be gone.

(Will be lost.)

He ignores it. “I’ll be over there before you know it,” he says, smiling. Kaito responds by beaming, toothy and bright, before he turns and walks properly onto the beach. Rantaro keeps one eye on him as he seeks out a good spot, but he also takes the opportunity to scoop up Kaito’s fallen comrade (AKA popsicle) with a wrapper, tossing it into the trash before he walks up to the popsicle stand.

After ordering his Spongebob Gumball Monstrosity(tm), Rantaro can’t stop himself from ordering another popsicle for Kaito as well. The same blue raspberry thing he ordered before. This time, ideally, Kaito will refrain from mindlessly letting go of it as they walk.

Rantaro giggles a little bit as he walks away from the popsicle stand. Kaito is so silly. Like, Rantaro has seen those videos of astronauts adjusting to life on earth (always with the fear of handing one of those guys a baby) but he hadn’t imagined that that would be something he’d experience firsthand with Kaito. In retrospect, maybe he should’ve; even back in their first year of high school, when they met, Kaito’s venture into the stars was imminent. It was all he talked about back then, it felt like. How his destiny was lying in the stars, and someday he’d be one of them.

...There was a bit more truth in that than Rantaro really understood back then. It kept him up at night a lot, while Kaito was up in space, the idea that something would happen, and Kaito wouldn’t come back, despite everything.

That doesn’t matter, though, because he’s here now.

As Rantaro picks his way across the sand, he spots his boyfriend spreading out the towel a safe distance from the waves. Kaito hasn’t spotted him yet, so Rantaro watches, grinning slightly, as he straightens up and wipes a bead of sweat from his forehead. The bright sunlight catches on his purple hair, and it shines a bit, even without the gel that he hasn’t touched since he got home from space. The light makes his skin glow, too, and his warm lilac eyes, when he finally turns around, are bright.

He’s really beautiful, actually. Rantaro gives him a flirty little smile as he comes over (the brand he reserves specifically for Kaito; it used to make him blush pretty hard but right now, Kaito just chuckles a little, and smiles fondly), holding out the newly procured popsicle.

“I thought I said I didn’t need another one,” Kaito remarks, his brows raising slightly, even as he reaches out and takes it. Rantaro hums, leaning over to plant a kiss on his cheek before pulling back and starting to unwrap his own ice cream.

“Well, the idea was that I’d get you one anyway, and if you really weren’t in the mood anymore, provided you don’t drop it again,” Rantaro grins, and Kaito scoffs, “I’ll just eat it. We don’t waste food in this house.”

Kaito snorts. Maybe because they’re standing on a beach. He unwraps his popsicle, though. “You’re sweet,” he says, and Rantaro hums, sitting himself down on the towel and biting into his ice cream as he watches the water. The beach is pretty crowded today, mid-July as it is. Lots of kids bobbing around in the waves, a couple lifeguards on duty. Rantaro knows some people would probably hate going to the beach when it’s like this, but this is his preference, really. Reminds him of beach trips when he was a kid, back before he lost all of his sisters, when they would mess around in the sand and Rantaro would dip his head underwater like it was his second home.

...People keep telling Rantaro to be patient. That things will happen, that he’ll find them. And he’s found  _ some  _ of them, but three sisters out of twelve is hardly a good number when he’s been searching and losing since he was eleven. Even if his sisters were okay at first, what if something has happened to them, something that he could’ve stopped by finding them sooner? Regardless of when he finds them, it will be too late. No matter what, he should’ve been faster. He shouldn’t have lost them in the first place.

It’s so hard to be  _ comfortable,  _ not nowadays really, more just as a general thing. Even when he’s out having fun, like today, when the weather is nice and he’s spending time with the love of his life, he can’t help thinking about his sisters, who could be anywhere, suffering anything, while he’s just… wasting his time. Sitting around and enjoying himself, as if he actually deserves it after what he did to them. What he continues to do, to the people he loves. Because Rantaro breaks everything he touches. He’s always known that. It’s only a matter of time before it happens to Kaito, too, and then--

And then, what? What’s going to happen? Rantaro is just going to be alone? Not alone, strictly speaking; he still has Tsubaki and Mahoko and Satsuki in places where he can reach them, so even if (when) something happens to Kaito, he wouldn’t be… alone. He wouldn’t. But… it’s just that Rantaro hasn’t felt at home in seven years, not since Kikuko followed him down that trail in the Philippines and got lost. The closest he’s come has been with Kaito, and even then… he can’t really afford to--

“Hey, your ice cream is melting,” it’s a combination of Kaito’s voice, which is low and gentle, but urgent, too, and his hand on Rantaro’s wrist (which is indeed sticky with melted ice cream) that brings him back to reality, back onto the beach. Rantaro’s eyes sting a little, but he manages to look up, to make himself meet lilac. “You okay? Think I lost you there for a second.”

Kaito’s little smile is reassuring, but it feels like Rantaro is hearing him from underwater. “I’m fine,” he says, a bit thicker than he’d really like. He clears his throat. “I’m okay, I’m good. Uh, I,” Rantaro blinks. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just spaced out a little.” He lifts his ice cream, wrinkling his nose. “I really made a mess of this, huh? Yeesh.”

“I’m not so worried about that,” Kaito murmurs, tilting his head to the side. He leans forward and kisses Rantaro on the forehead; Rantaro hums at the feel of his boyfriend’s stubble scratching against his skin. Man needs to shave, even if it is pretty attractive. “Anything I can do for you?” His eyes say,  _ do we need to leave? _

Which is like, first of all, totally unnecessary, okay, Rantaro is  _ fine-- _

But also, he really doesn’t want to leave. It’s been so long since he’s been to the beach. The ocean is like his home away from home. And with Kaito, well, that’s…

That’s almost like having an actual home again. Rantaro smiles, and it’s a little awkward, a little lopsided, but he means it. He does. “No, I’m good to stay,” he tells Kaito, and there must be something in his voice that makes Kaito not question it, because instead of replying immediately, he leans forward and kisses Rantaro, softly, on the lips. Rantaro smiles wider into it. This man still closes his eyes when he kisses. He’s cute.

“Okay,” Kaito says, when he pulls back, his lips curling. “Better finish that then, before Spongebob gets his revenge and it ends up all over your shirt.”

“I’d be flattered to have Spongebob on my shirt,” Rantaro deadpans, picking up the pace on his ice cream anyway. Kaito giggles a little as he shuffles away, pulling off his shirt and reaching for the sunscreen.

It’s… not going to last. Something is going to happen. To Kaito. And it’ll be Rantaro’s fault. It’s always his fault.

But he can enjoy this for now, at least. It would be a crime not to.

The kiss Rantaro presses to Kaito’s neck, later, when Kaito asks for help applying sunscreen, is long and lingering. More so than it should be in a public space. But if either of them notices, neither of them comments.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry that it got angsty, i wrote this in two sittings and angst brain took over for the second half


End file.
